Italian Army in Russia

The Italian Army in Russia (ARMIR) was a primarily-infantry army sent by Benito Mussolini of Fascist Italy to take part in the Great Patriotic War against the Soviet Union during World War II. 235,000-strong, the ARMIR replaced the mobile Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia in July 1942, but the army was disbanded in February 1943 with only 120,480 remaining soldiers after the Battle of Stalingrad.

History
The Italian Army in Russia was formed in July 1942 after the existing Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia was vastly increased with Alpini troops to become an army. The army was led by Italo Gariboldi, who replaced the expeditionary corps' leader Giovanni Messe due to Messe's insistence that the army should not be enlargened until it could be properly equipped. In the late summer of 1942, the ARMIR took part in the conquest of eastern Ukraine from the Soviet Union, and in December 1942 the Italian Army was the target of Operation Little Saturn by the Red Army during the Battle of Stalingrad. The Italians suffered huge losses, and in January 1943 their leader Giulio Martinat was killed while breakng out of Stalingrad at the Battle of Nikolayevka. The Italian Army's remaining troops suffered from demoralization, frostbite, and illnesses, with 87,795 being killed and missing and 34,474 wounded from 20 August 1942 to 20 February 1943. Afterwards, the army ceased to exist.